Astragal for door closure



Jan- 6, 1970 c. w. ELLINGSON, JR 3,487,581

ASTRAGAL FOR DOOR CLOSURE Filed June 20, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIS. Z

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ASTRAGAL FOR DOOR CLOSURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 20, 1968 a. 4. e4, a J u s M 4 w w aww /I 1 i, I. 6 4 2 3 WL 0% L.. M Il, -l 2|.| `0 4 JR F v. 4 f 2 m :F

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E Arroz n/Eys ,26C sa .ra 5 52a United States Patent 3,487,581 ASTRAGALFOR DOOR 'CLOSURE Chester W. Ellingson, Jr., Minneapolis, Minn.,assignor to Reese Metal Weather Strip Company, Rosemount,

Minn.

Filed .lune 20, 1968, Ser. No. 738,685 Int. Cl. E05f 3/00 U.S. i Cl.49-478 4 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE An astragal for sealing theedge of a closure including a channel member, an astragal bar slidablyengageable in the channel member, spring means in the channel, meanscarried by the astragal bar and engaging the spring means to normallyurge the bar into a lixed relationship with the channel, the astragalbar having magnetic means for attracting the bar out of the fixedrelationship with the channel together with means for limiting theoutward movement of the astragal bar upon attraction of the bar by themagnetic means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to an improvement inastragals used to weatherproof doors. It is an object of the inventionto provide an astragal having a channel member for securement to theedge or face of a door and in the channel member is mounted spring meanswhich engages an astragal bar normally urging the bar into a fixedrelationship with the channel. The astragal bar has magnetic meansthereon for attracting the bar Iout of the fixed relationship with thechannel against the action of the spring means to effect a closure.

These and other more detailed and specic objects will be disclosed inthe course of the following specication, reference being made to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a front elevational view of a pair of closed double doors oneach f which is mounted an astragal embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing the astragal barsin contact.

FIG. 3 is a section similar to FIG. 2 but with the doors and astragalsseparated slightly, the astragal bars held within the channel members.

FIG. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 with the astragal bars inmagnetic engagement.

FIG. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a view of a portion of the channel on the line 6-6 of FIG. 3with the astragal bar removed.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a retainer spring member removed fromthe astragal.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a retainer removed from the astragal.

FIG. 9 is a view on the line 9-9 of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a pair of astragals A and B areshown mounted on the meeting edges of the doors C and D, respectively.

The astragals A and B are substantially identical except for left andright and as a result only A will be described in detail. The parts of Bidentical to those of A will bear the same reference numeral accompaniedby a prime, thus The astragal A includes the elongated channel member 10which includes the base portion =12 and the spaced side walls 14 and 16extending therefrom. Extending from the base portion 12 and parallel tothe wall 16 is the flange 18 which has formed therein spaced holes 20adapted to receive screws 22 for securing the astragal to the door C.The numeral 24 designates a dovetail groove formed in and extendingthroughout the length of the base portion 12, the groove opening uponthe inside of the channel member 10.

With particular reference to FIG. 8, there is provided a retainer member26 formed of the body 28 having a cross section in the form of atrapezoid and adapted to snugly -fit in the groove 24 with the lip 30extending from the top edge of the body thereof. The inside of the lip30 is formed with the ramp portion 32 which terminates at its inner endin the shoulder 34. All of the retainer members are substantiallyidentical but are accompanied by a different lower case letter. A lowerretainer member 26a is secured in the groove 24 adjacent to but spacedfrom the lower end of the channel 10 with the lip 30 pointingdownwardly. The retainer members 26 in each instance may be secured inthe channel 10` by crimping out a portion of the channel in engagementwith each end of the retainer as indicated at 36. An upper retainermember 26b is secured in the groove 24 adjacent to but spaced from theupper end of channel 10 with the lip 30 pointing upwardly.

Further provided are retainer springs 38 mounted in the channel v10 allof which are identical. Each spring 38 includes a at base portion 40, acentral portion 42 extending from and angularly disposed to said flatbase portion, said central portion terminating in an outer 4ilat legportion 44 normally substantially parallel to the base portion,particularly FIGS. 5 and 6. A lower spring 38 is positioned in channel10 with the base 401 secured to the bottom or base 12 of the channel bymeans of pins 46, the outer free end of the spring pointed upwardly andoverlying the channel. An upper spring 38a is also positioned in channel10 and spaced from the upper end of the channel with the base 40 securedto the bottom or base 12 by means of pins 50, the outer free end of thespring extending in an upward direction with the outer leg portionoverlying the channel.

The numeral 52 designates an astragal bar which is substantially thelength of the channel 10 and includes the elongated body 54 which hasthe longitudinally extending dovetail groove 56 formed in the inner facethereof. Secured in the dovetail groove 56 at the lower end by means ofthe Allen screw 58 is the lower removable retainer 26 with the lip 30extending upwardly, particularly FIG. 4. When the astragal bar S2 is inoperative position the lip 430 of the lower retainer 26c is in alignmentwith the lip of the retainer 26a in the channel 10. A lower intermediateretainer 26d is secured in the groove 56 spaced from the lower retainer26C. An upper intermediate retainer 26e is secured in the groove 56spaced from the lower intermediate retainer. Further provided is theupper retainer 26f secured in the groove 56 with the lip depending andspaced from the retainer 26e and adjacent the upper end of the bar '52.

The bar 52 has formed in the outer face thereof the longitudinallyextending dovetail groove 60' in which is mounted the strip 62 ofmagnetic rubber by means of a dovetail connection. The magnetic rubberis known in the art and includes a composite of rubber or the likehaving associated intimately therewith particles susceptible tomagnetization. This type of material is disclosed in U.S. Patent No.2,999,275 on Mechanical Orientation of Magnetically AnisotropicParticles.

The astragal A is assembled in one manner by having the retainer 26cremoved. The bar 52 is positioned so that the retainer 26f is above theretainer 26h with the retainer 26e above the end of the upper retainerspring 38a together with retainer 26d above the upper end of lowerretainer spring 38. In this condition the bar 52 is moved or droppedlongitudinally upon channel 10 whereby the lip 30 of retainer 26f issubstantially opposite the lip 30 of retainer 26b and the upper end ofspring 38a is in engagement with the shoulder 34 0f retainer 26e withthe upper end of spring 38 in engagement with the shoulder 34 ofretainer 26d, particularly FIG. 4. The retainer 26 is then secured inthe dovetail groove S6 by means of the Allen screw 58 threadedly mountedin the body 54 and pressing the retainer against the flared walls of thegroove. 'The lip 30 of the retainer 26e is substantially opposite thelip of retainer 26a, particularly FIG. 4. In this position the springs38 and 38a contact the shoulders 34 of the retainers and bear slightlyagainst the lips of the retainers 26d and 26e and normally urge the bar52 into a xed relationship within the channel 10 and toward the base 12.It will be seen that with the above mentioned assembly of the bar 52 inthe channel 16 there can be no displacement of the bar 52 relative tothe channel due to the retainer members described.

With the astragals A and B in place on the faces of the doors C and D,respectively adjacent the edges, and the edges of the doors are placedor closed adjacent each other the magnetic attraction of the bars 52 foreach other bring the same partially out of the channels and togetheragainst the action of the springs- The springs are formed of relativelyweak thin stock, i.e., of such a resiliency that they yield to theattraction of the magnet bars 52.

In FIG. 5 the bar 52 is at rest within the channel 10 by means of thesprings and not withdrawn by a magnetic bar of a companion astragal bar.It will be seen that the bar 54 can be displaced from the channel onlyto the extent as illustrated in FIG. 4 due to the retainer members 26fand 26o engaging 26a and 26b respectively. It will be seen that due tothe springs 38 and 385L the astragal bar 54 remains substantially in theretracted position, except when in juxtaposition with a door frame oropposing door carrying a companion bar, thus allowing closure of thedoor to which the astragal is attached without the astragal bar strikingthe door frame or opposing door.

An astragal A may be placed on the frame of a door and the door havingmagnet attracting means thereon closed against the same. Also anastragal may be placed on a door with the frame having magnet attractingmeans which effects a seal when the door is closed. In a double swingingdoor two of such astragals may be used, one on the edge of each doorwhere the same meet, so that the astragals contact each other when thedoors are closed.

It is understood that suitable modications may be made in the structureas disclosed, provided such modiiications come within the spirit andscope of the appended claims. Having now therefore fully illustrated anddescribed my invention, what I claim to be new and desire to protect byLetters Patent is:

1. An astragal for a door closure comprising:

(a) a channel member for securement to a door,

(b) an astragal bar slidably engageable in said channel member,

(c) spring means mounted in said channel,

(d) at least one first retainer member having a lip extending therefromand carried by said astragal bar, said lip in engagement with saidspring means whereby said astragal bar is normally urged into a xedrelationship with said channel,

(e) said astragal bar having magnetic means for attracting said astragalbar out of said xed relationship with said channel and (f) a secondretainer member carried by said channel member with said lip thereofengageable with the lip of said rst retainer for limiting the outwardmovement of the astragal bar upon attraction of said `bar by saidmagnetic means.

2. The device of claim 1 in which the magnetic means includes a strip ofmagnetic rubber.

3. The device 0f claim 2 in which said spring means is at least one leafspring.

4. The device of claim 3 in which said second retainer is removablysecured to allow positioning of said retainer of said astragal barrelative to said leaf spring.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1968 Jones 49-478 9/1968Baermann 49-478 X J. KARL BELL, Primary Examiner

